About

The International Screen Institute, is a non-profit organisation (e.V.) providing first class training for European and international film and TV creatives and executives. We offer a wide range of courses for all levels of experience, from beginners to top executives and company owners.

The ethos of all courses will adhere to the key five pillars of ISI. These are:

  • quality of teaching by industry experts
  • collaboration between industry sectors and across borders
  • the latest in digital innovation affecting the industry
  • inclusion of all participants regardless of ethnicity, gender, socio economic background or sexual orientation
  • prioritise sustainability in terms of ‘greener’ and more ethical practices at every level and stage of the process.

The Screen Institute Team brings years of practical, hands-on experience to the table to ensure all courses are delivered by high profile industry practitioners, who are the best in their field.

These industry experts and professional trainers will share their knowledge and expertise in a wide range of short and extended courses with the aim to improve the skillsets of film makers and executives as well as building confidence and industry connections to benefit both the individual and their organisation or company in our rapidly growing industry.

Our Team

Eva Fischer

Eva Fischer

Association Manager

Contact Eva:

eva@screeninstitute.eu

+43 670 552 5312

Read More

Eva has been working as a curator, cultural manager and lecturer in the field of experimental media and immersive art since 2005. In 2007 she initiated sound:frame, which gained notoriety as Vienna's festival for audiovisual art and has been active as a platform for immersive art and culture&technology. From 2016 to 2019 she directed the production of the Diagonale in Graz and realized an XR program at the festival. In recent years, she directed the media art festival CIVA – Contemporary Immersive Virtual Art in Vienna and hosted the framework program of the BMKÖS funding track Pixel, Bytes + Film.

Read More

She has curated and implemented numerous international exhibition and live programs and has worked as a project manager at the Vienna-based agency Museum Booster. Since 2011 she has been working as a lecturer in the field of experimental media at various universities and colleges.

Dominika Halvova

Dominika Halvova

Operations Coordinator

Contact Dominika:

dominika@screeninstitute.eu

+43 670 557 1906

Michael Foster

Mike Foster

Course Coordinator / Administrator

Contact Mike:

mike@screeninstitiute.eu

+43 670 354 0524

Read More

Mike has been working in the creative sector since 2015 when he graduated as an Actor from the University of Wales, he then went on to study his masters degree in Creative and Cultural Industries Management from Northumbria University where he has gone on to work as a director and production manager, directing and producing the UK's first all autistic cast musical production of Bugsy Malone. Mike has gone on to setup an autism drama course in the north-east of the UK, as well as teaching and performing around the world in Canada, Thailand and Spain to name a few places.

After moving to Austria in 2022 he has been involved with Theatre Initiative Burgenland, Vienna's English Theatre, Musik Theater Tage Wien and Brut Nordwest. In various roles such as production manager, director and videographer.

Read More

Mike has a keen passion for drama, theatre and film and has even set up his own production company that has been involved with filming and live video production in theatres across Austria such as OHO, KUGA and Kultur Kongress Zentrum Eisenstadt.

On the side Mike teaches acting at Vienna's English Theatre and performs regularly with groups in Burgenland and Vienna.

Course Directors

Katja Schwarz

Katja Schwarz

Course Director

Katja is an experienced consultant for sustainable filmmaking and media production. Her credo is: There can be no "greenness” without fairness, equal opportunities and chances. Therefore she is eager to improve conditions for all in the film and media businesses to obtain sustainability including all economical, ecological, cultural and social aspects.

Read More

Katja has been working for film, television and online media since 1993. More than a decade she spent in film production management and early film related online offers. She went on to head the press and PR department of Odeon Film Group in Munich where in 2010 she additionally took on the new remit of the sustainability officer, thus actually laying the foundations for green filmmaking in the German-speaking region.

Read More

For several years now she has been consulting, teaching and writing for production companies, broadcasters, institutions, festivals and film schools like German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, funk, Goethe-Institute Los Angeles, Barents Ecology Film Festival, naturvision filmfestival, Producers’ Alliance or Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg to promote the concept of sustainability in media productions. Since January 2022 in this capacity she is employed at Tolle Idee! Network, Munich. Katja is a member of German Green Film & TV Consultants Association, Filmmakers 4 Future and journalists’ association.

Maria

Maria-Christine Rieder

Course Director

Head of Legal at Terra Mater Studios GmbH over the last 11 years.

Read More

Maria-Christine has been managing all legal and business aspects of audio-visual content (film, TV, format), ranging from development (including rights acquisition) to financial structuring, (co-)production, to distribution of over 400 hours of media content. She has been the interface to talent, producers, broadcasters, major studios, streamers etc. In her previous role as the Head of Legal and Business Affairs Content Sales International at ORF Enterprise she was responsible for ORF and third-party content distribution contracts, applying her acquired knowledge from working at copyright law firms in Munich and Vienna and her postgraduate studies.

Kai May web

Kai May

Course Director

Lawyer and Partner, UNVERZAGT Rechtsanwälte Partnergesellschaft mbB

Intellectual Property, Copyright and Media law (TV, Motion Pictures and Entertainment) and Structured Finance for Intellectual Properties

Read More

Kai May’s expertise stems from 15 years of experience in the film industry as a managing director/CEO of film production companies. His area of practice, therefore, covers not only the legal but also the business aspects of film and tv productions and other media and entertainment products like video/computer games. He advices national and international clients on the full life cycle of audio-visual content (film, TV, OTT) from rights acquisition, through the stages of development, financing, structuring and (co-) production, until exploitation and distribution, including the evaluation of film libraries and the improvement of revenue streams.

He is also a lecturer at Film University Babelsberg.

Sile Course Director Thumbnail

Síle Culley

Lab Director

Síle is a freelance Audience Designer and Development consultant based in Dublin.

Read More

With nearly a decade of experience working in Sales and Distribution, Síle now runs an Audience Design consultancy helping independent producers and established production companies identify potential audiences for their films and the positioning of their projects in the ever-competitive marketplace. Since she began, her contribution as Audience Designer has led to international premieres at top festivals, world sales and theatrically-released titles, and successful applications with Creative Europe, the BAI and Screen Ireland.

Read More

Síle is a member of the European Film Academy and the founder of The Breakfast Club, a peer-to-peer network for women working in the Business of Film in Ireland. She is an alumni of Berlinale Talents, Torino Film Lab, LIM Less Is More and the NFTS.

Julia Short Square

Julia Short

Course Director

With over 25 years of working in the film industry from production to distribution Julia Short has always had a passion for training. She is keen that opportunities that weren’t available to her when she was developing her career are made available to those working in the industry now.

Read More

Actively involved in delivering training … For 7 years Julia ran the Marketing & Distribution Course for the Media Business School in Ronda, Spain and was Director of Content for the Creative Europe/ScreenSkills funded senior executive training programme Inside Pictures, as well as delivering training programmes for Screen Skills Ireland, Film Distributor’s Association, Focus in Scotland, and Creative England.

Read More

Julia has been a driving force in creating ISI when the UK announced it would be leaving the EU and wanted to continue working with those in the international industry.

From a background in advertising and consumer PR, she joined PolyGram, the first European studio, where she was responsible for running the UK theatrical marketing and publicity departments. During her time, she had the honour of releasing such films as WHEN WE WERE KINGS, TRAINSPOTTING, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, FARGO, TWELVE MONKEYS and THE USUAL SUSPECTS, followed by stints as Deputy Managing Director of Redbus (now Lionsgate), and Head of Marketing at Film Four Distribution.

In 2003 she set her own UK distribution company, VERVE PICTURES with Colin Burch during which time she acquired and released Andrea Arnold’s RED ROAD, the Oscar nominated DOGTOOTH and Craig Gillespies LARS AND THE REAL GIRL. This was followed by two years as Head of International Acquisitions for a UK sales company.

Since 2013 she has worked freelance and been involved in various aspects of the film industry where she was a consultant to producers and, on Danny Boyle’s T2: Trainspotting, worked on the film from pre-production right through to its international release and worked with Pulse Films, Dogwoof, MBC Studio’s and the BFI.

Founding Members

Funding Providers

Partnerships

Board

Sarah Nörenberg

Sarah Nörenberg

Chairwoman

Heinrich Ambrosch

Heinrich Ambrosch

Deputy Chairman

Satesh Mathura

Satesh Mathura

Treasurer

Nina Holler

Nina Holler

Secretary